Moldova national football team

Moldova national football team
The Moldova national football team represents Moldova in men's international football and is controlled by the Moldovan Football Federation, the governing body for football in Moldova. Moldova's home ground is Zimbru Stadium in Chișinău and their head coach is Serghei Cleșcenco. Shortly before the break-up of the Soviet Union, they played their first match against Georgia on 2 July 1991.
Two of their three best results in the 2020s came during the qualifiers for UEFA Euro 2024, with a win over Poland (3-2) in Chisinau, coming back from a 0-2 deficit, and a draw against Czech Republic (0-0) in Chișinău. In 2007, Moldova upset Hungary 3–0 in Chișinău in Euro 2008 qualifying. Another notable result was a 5–2 win over Montenegro during 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying. The team has never qualified for the final stages of the UEFA European Championship nor the FIFA World Cup since first entering qualifying in 1998.
Following Moldova's 4–0 defeat to England in September 1997, British writer and comedian Tony Hawks travelled to Moldova to challenge and beat all 11 Moldovan international footballers at tennis. The feature film version of the book of the same name, Playing the Moldovans at Tennis, was filmed in and around Chișinău in May and June 2010 and was released in the spring of 2012.
History
The Moldovan Football Federation was founded in 1990. However, the national football team of Moldova did not play an official international match until 1991, when Moldova lost to Georgia. Alexandru Spiridon was the player who scored the first goal in the history.
Moldova's first attempt to qualify for the FIFA World Cup was in 1998, but they failed to qualify for the tournament. Moldova has finished either last or second last in all tournament qualifying campaigns entered to date, except UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying, in which they finished fifth in the seven-team Group C with 12 points.
Current sponsorship
German sports company Jako has been Moldova's official kit manufacturer since 2000.
Official sponsors: Bere Chișinău, Jako, Rusnac, Infront Sports & Media (Moldova), Bemol, iTicket (Moldova), Vizită, Orange (Moldova)
Results and fixtures
The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.
2022
2023
Coaching staff
Current coaching staff
Manager history
Former forward and all-time top goalscorer of Moldova is the current head coach of Moldova national team since December 2021.
Statistics correct as of match played on 15 October 2023
Players
Current squad
The following players are selected for the upcoming UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying matches against and on 17 November 2023 and 20 November 2023 respectively.
Caps and goals updated as of 15 October 2023, after the match against Poland.
Recent call-ups
The following players have been called up for the team within the last 12 months.
INJ Withdrew due to injury
PRE Preliminary squad / standby
RET Retired from the national team
SUS Serving suspension
WD Player withdrew from the squad due to non-injury issue.
Player records
Players in bold are still active with Moldova.
Most appearances
Top goalscorers
Competitive record
FIFA World Cup
UEFA European Championship
UEFA Nations League
By competition
Head-to-head record
Last match updated was against on 15 October 2023.
References
External links
of the Federația Moldovenească de Fotbal
Moldova at FIFA
Moldova at UEFA
RSSSF archive of results: 1991–present
Reports for all matches of Moldova national team
Football in Moldova
European national association football teams